Samsung, Panasonic, Sony team for 3D

A collective of the top television manufacturers have joined forces to make 3D TV more attractive to consumers.

Panasonic, Samsung and Sony have announced plans to collaborate with XpanD 3D to develop a new technology standard for active 3D glasses. The partnership, called the Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative, aims to eliminate the specialized glasses required for each manufacturer’s set.

Read more at Variety.com

Maroon 5 frontman sues Activision

Add Maroon 5 vocalist Adam Levine to the list of musicians who are angry with Activision.

The singer and co-star of NBC’s hit series “The Voice” has sued the publisher over the use of his likeness in 2009’s Band Hero, saying he did not authorize many of the ways his image is used in the game. Sound familiar? It should. Levine’s complaints are virtual carbon copies of the ones made by No Doubt and the former members of Nirvana.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Kim Jong-il, MMOs and the North Korean budget: A love story

It’s hardly a secret that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is a big fan of the entertainment industry, but who would have thought he was using parts of it to fund his government?

Police in South Korea have arrested a group of hackers accused of heading a team that attempted to set up a series of unmanned computers to play massively multiplayer games like “Lineage” and Samsung-owned “Dungeon and Fighter” nonstop. The goal? Gathering in-game points that are convertible to cash.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

PlayStation Vita won’t hit U.S, Europe in time for holidays

Scratch the PlayStation Vita off your note to Santa.

Sony confirmed Thursday that its new handheld system won’t launch in the U.S. or Europe until 2012. While not officially a delay, the announcement still surprised a lot of people, who expected the company to push hard for a widespread launch before the holiday season, since that’s such a crucial sales period for the industry.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

App Review: Cut the Rope: Experiments

Om Nom hasn’t lost any of his charm. And Cut the Rope: Experiments proves that developer ZeptoLabs hasn’t lost any of its magic. Is this more of the same gameplay as the original Cut the Rope? Sure. However, there are some new mechanics, like a suction cup, but if you played the original, you won’t have any trouble getting into the groove here. That’s not a bad thing, though, if you’ve completed the original (and all of its add-ons). There’s a thin plot about Om Nom being examined by a genial scientist, who encourages and congratulates the player as you progress. But at its heart, this is a game that uses physics and puzzles wonderfully together and proudly carries on the legacy of its predecessor.

Read more at Common Sense Media

Rambo returns (in a video game)

When you think about it, it’s actually pretty astonishing that there hasn’t been a Rambo video game out in the past 22 years. Oh there have been games on Sylvester Stallone’s  “First Blood” hero before, sure… but since 1989’s “Rambo III” on the Amiga and Sega Genesis, he’s been silent.

UK publisher Reef Entertainment is bringing him back, though – securing the rights to develop several titles based on the popular character from StudioCanal.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Analysis: The Upside To Releasing Vita In 2012

[Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris looks at Sony’s recent decision not to release its Vita portable in the U.S. and Europe this year, seeing potential benefits to the company’s cautious approach.]

Given the early adopter mentality of the core gaming world, the disappointment over news that Sony’s PlayStation Vita wouldn’t hit U.S. or European stores until 2012 was hardly a surprise. As a group, we generally like to be the first to get our grubby mitts on the latest and greatest tech toys.

I won’t pretend to know the reasons for Sony’s decision to wait until next year – but whether the “delay” (which, of course, it wasn’t – since the company hadn’t actually confirmed a release date prior to Thursday) was intentional or due to circumstance, it’s hardly the disaster Wall Street is making it out to be. (The company’s stock was down 5 percent in midday trading.)

Read more at Gamasutra

‘Peanuts’ app coming from makers of controversial Smurfs Village

You’re on the iPhone, Charlie Brown.

Capcom has acquired the rights to create social games based on Charles Schultz’ s Peanuts comic empire, which will put Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the gang on Apple’s iDevices this fall.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

HBO Go headed to consoles

Time Warner’s ready to give HBO Go a bigger push.

CEO Jeff Bewkes, in an earnings call with analysts this morning, said the pay network’s TV Everywhere service would be expanding its footprint beyond smartphones and tablets – soon adding Internet connected televisions and video game consoles to its roster.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

App Review: Stickman BMX

Physics-based games — even platformers like Stickman BMX — are incredibly dependent on the controls. If they’re done well, the games can be tons of fun. If they’re not, frustration often sets in. Unfortunately, they’re not spectacular with this app. The game takes a page from Sega’s Sonic series, in that it constantly moves you forward in a difficult series of courses, but to conquer them, you’re required to constantly press a pedal button, which is a quick way to get a sore wrist. It’s also directly responsible for many lost games if you’re not pressing fast enough. The game isn’t terrible, though. There are plenty of levels to explore and loads of replayability to gather all the medals. But ultimately, the control issues are likely to convince you to stop playing long before you get to that point.

Read more at Common Sense Media